Wagon-body-elevating mechanism



B. A. GRAMM.

WAGON BODY ELEVATING MEcHANlsM.

` APPLICATION HLED IYEB. 28: 1916. l Q, l 95, 67 1 Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W/ TIVESS www,

B. A. GRAMNI.

WAGON BODY ELEVATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.28.1916.

l ,l 95,671; Patented Aug. 22,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTUH/VEY NTE BENJAMIN A. GRAMM, or LIMA, oHIo.

WAGON-BODY-ELEVATING MECHANISM.

Application led February 28, 1916.

To all whom t may concern.' l

Be it known that BENJAMIN A. GRAMM, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Lima, in the county of Allen and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tvlagon-Body- Elevating Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in wagon-body elevating mechanisms and particularly to improvements in mechanisms for elevating the body of vehicles designed for the transportation of material, such as coal, broken stone and the like, that is adapted to be discharged from the vehicles through a chute; and an object of this invention is to provide an elevating mechanism of thel kind hereinbefore referred to which will be balanced in operation irrespective of the distribution of the load raised thereby.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wagon-body elevating mechanism which will be simple in construction, comparatively cheap in manufacture, and elflcient and durable in operation and use.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of this invention and the best mode now known to me of applying that principle, Figure l is an elevation of a motor-truck having a wagon-body equipped with my new elevating mechanism; Fig. 2 is a plan of the wagonfbody; Fig. 3 is a detail showingv 1 the rack-and-pmion construction provided at the corners of the wagon-body; Fig. 4 is a plan of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 is a detail illustrating in vertical section the upper end of the hoisting cylinder.

The motor-truck a comprises the chassis 01' frame Z), the wheel c upon which the latter is supported, the motor (l, the steeringwheel e and the drivers seat f, all shown somewhat diagrammatically in Fig. l. Mounted upon the chassis b is a stationary four-sided vertical frame g having two ends it and two sides z'; and, within this frame g, there is placed a four-sided wagonbody j that is free to be moved up and down within the frame g. At each end of each side j of the wagonsbody y', there is fastened a vertically-disposed elongated plate 7c one side of the outer or front face of which is toothed to form a vertical rack lo', the re- .mailling side la of this face of the plate ,7g

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, MME.

Serial No. 81,046.

being left plane (Figs. l and 3). Similarly, there is fastened, at each side of each end j of the wagon-body j, a vertically-disposed plate substantially the same as the plate 7c fastened to the sides j. At the top of each of the four corners of the stationary frame g, thereis mounted a shaft-bearing m in which are rotatably mounted an end of a side-shaftn and an end of an end-shaft the two side-shafts n and thetwo end-shafts o are, of course, horizontally disposed. On each end of each of the shafts n, o, there is keyed apinion Q9 that meshes with the teeth 7c* of the rack 7c opposed thereto; and, adjacent to each of the pinions p, there is loosely mounted on the same shafts a, o, an idler (7 that rolls on the plane surface in. -These idle rollers g maintain the pinions 7? in proper position relative to the rack-teeth cx and prevent side sway of the wagon-body y' during the raising of the same. The wagon-body illustrated in the drawings is divided into two compartments r but it is obvious that there may be provided at will any reasonable number of such compartments.` As shown in Fig. 2, there is provided, in the bottom of each of these compartments 7', a slide-controlled opening r* through which the contents of the compartment is discharged into a suitably-placed chute (not shown), when the wa gon-body j has been raised to the proper height.

To elevate the wagon-body j, the following hydraulic hoisting mechanism is provided (Figs.l l, 2 and 5) Between the compartments r, there is built into the wagonbody l7' at the center thereof a vertically-disposed tube or cylinder s the upper end of which is closed by a cap or cylinder-head t,- and, within this cylinder 8, there works slidingly a piston or ram u, which is raised by the pressure of a suitable liquid (such as oil) forced into the cylinder s beneath the ram u by means (for example) of a rotary pump shown conventionally at c. This force pump v may be driven by the propellershaft w of the auxiliary driving mechanism shown and described in my application Serial No. 77,831, filed February l2, 1916. The upward pressure of the ram u against the leveling washer t (Fig. within the cylinder s is transmitted to the cylinder-head or cap of the latter and serves to move the wagon-body 7' upwardly.

AThe operation of the elevating mechanism just described is balanced, rapid and smooth. Even if one of the compartments r be empty and the other completely full, the filled end of the wagon-body will move upwardly at the same instant as the empty end; for, just as soon as the pinions p at the empty end begin to rotate, the side-shafts a commence to turn and cause the pinions p at the full end simultaneously to revolve. It follows that one end of the wagon-body j, whether that end be full or empty, will begin to move upwardly at just the same time as the other end thereof; and this result is due to the stabilizing action of the shafts and the rackand-pinion mechanism and to the central position of the hydraulic raising mechanism hereinbefore described.

IVhile I have hereinbefore described the ram u as being raised by Huid force thereunder by a rotary pump o, yet it is obvious to all skilled in this art that other means may be used for driving the ram u upwardly. Again, while this invention has been herein described and shown in connection with a self-propelled vehicle, yet this invention may equally well be applied to a horse-drawn vehicle.

I claim:

l. A wagon-body elevating mechanism including a wagon-body member; a frame member within which said wagon-body member is movably arranged; means for raising said wagon-body member; and mechanism independent of said means for insuring that both ends of the latter move upwardly substantially simultaneously, said mechanism being arranged to transmit the movement of one end of said wagon-body member to the other end thereof and cause both ends to move at substantially the same time.

2. A wagon-body elevating mechanism including a vwagon-body member; a frame member within which said wagon-body member is movably arranged; centrallydisposed means for raising said wagon-body member; and mechanism independent of said means for insuring` that both ends of the latter move upwardly substantially simultaneously, said mechanism being arranged to transmit the movement of one end of said wagon-body member to the other Copies of this patent may be obtained for end thereof and cause both ends to move at substantially the same time.

3. A wagon-body elevating mechanism including a wagon-body member; a frame member within which said wagon-body member is movably arranged; means for raising said wagon-body member; mechanism independent of said means for insuring that both ends of the latter' move upwardly substantially simultaneously, said mechanism being arranged to transmit the movement of one end of said wagon-body member to the other end thereof and cause both ends to move at substantially the same time; and means for preventing swaying of the wagon-body member during the up-anddown movement of the same.

4. A wagon-body elevating mechanism including a wagon-body member; a frame member within which said wagon-body member is movably arranged; a pair of racks on each side of one of said members, the racks on the same side being arranged at opposite ends of the member; a pair of shafts arranged on opposite sides of the other of said members and extending lengthwise thereof; pinions on said shafts and in mesh with said racks; and mechanism independent of said shafts and pinions for raising said wagon-body member.

5. A wagon-body elevating mechanism including a Wagon-body member; a frame member within which said Wagon-body member is movably arranged; a pair of racks on each side of one of said members, the racks on the same side being arranged at opposite ends of the member; a pair of shafts arranged on opposite sides of the other of said members and extending lengthwise thereof; pinions mounted on said shafts and in mesh with said racks; and rollers mounted on said shafts and arranged to bear against the rack-carrying member for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Lima, Ohio, this twenty-first day of February, A. D. 1916, in the presence of the two undersigned witnesses.

BENJAMIN A. GRAMM.

Witnesses:

ELEANOR FISI-1ER, C. H. GIERHART.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

